No more fighting with food

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Dietitians of Canada is aiming to “Take the fight out of food” for Nutrition Month 2017.

For over 30 years, Nutrition Month has been planned and delivered in March. Starting back in the late 1970’s as Nutrition Week, it has since evolved and expanded into a month-long campaign.

“Our whole message is that eating should be joyful, it should be pleasurable, we should look forward to meal times and it shouldn’t be a source of frustration or confusion,” said Gina Sunderland, Dietitians of Canada prairie Nutrition Month spokesperson.

Mentioning that from her clients she has seen the frustration because they don’t know where to turn to for reliable information, especially with the growth of the Internet.

“In 2015 when Dietitians of Canada looked, there was about 30,000 research studies that just mentioned the word nutrition, and that’s a 54 per cent increase from 2013,” Sunderland said. “So, we can just see how the information overload is really exploding, and that’s what’s really leading people to so much confusion.”

She noted this is why there is a month dedicated to nutritional awareness, and each year they have a new theme, this year being “Take the fight out of food! Spot the problem, get the facts, seek support.”

“It’s just a really good way for people to frame their sort of fight with food. You know, spot the problem, get the facts … (and) get the reliable information so that meal times and eating can be pleasurable for you and your family,” said Sunderland.

Also looking at three common concerns people had when seeking out information with a nutritionist, those being digestive woes, picky eaters and managing a condition. Commonly, Sunderland said what she sees is more people being diagnosed with diabetes.

“We know that over 3-million Canadians have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, that’s 10 per cent of the population, and that’s a condition that can be managed in many situations very successfully with sound nutrition and diet information,” she explained, while adding that patients and clients coming to her tend to have the same concerns.

“They are scared to eat,” Sunderland said.

Some quick tips she gives them are to simply use a lunch plate at dinner rather than a dinner plate, so it will look like a fuller plate.

“Use your imagination and pretend your plate is divided in a half and two quarters,” she explained. “Make your plate half vegetables, and as colourful as possible, the more colourful vegetables we have, the more nutrients we get, and the healthier our diet is.”

While one quarter can be left for carbohydrates, such as brow rice, sweet potatoes and more, the other quarter should be a lean protein such as chicken breast or fish.

Another common problem she hears from patients and clients is picky eaters, something Sunderland has dealt with herself and her children. Some things she suggests is to get children involved with shopping or cooking and being a role model.

“I find working with families as clients, as well my own children, that I would give choices and that also made a big difference,” said Sunderland.
Giving the choice of say raw vegetable sticks like cucumbers and carrot sticks or cooked beans.

“He would be choosing, but he’s still having to make a healthy choice (and) he has a little bit of control there … we all like to have some input I think in what we eat, regardless of our age,” said Sunderland.

For more information, people can check out nutritionmonth2017.ca, use #nutritionmonth, talk to a registered dietitian and check out some free apps such as Cookspiration.

“I hope (Nutrition Month) does bring awareness to the importance of healthy eating, and that healthy eating is joyful,” said Sunderland. “I hope it gives people the awareness that there are creditable resources online that they can turn to.”

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